So, the exhibit I am going to is at the Peabody Essex Museum, which is a combination of other collections in Salem, MA (and not particularly associated with the witch trails, though their collections now include the Essex Institute and country court records, which does include the trial material).
These days, it is a very up and coming collection, and via one of my local history events mailing lists I'm on for work related reasons, found out about a curator's tour of the Empresses of China's Forbidden City exhibit, which has a number of pieces which have not been outside of China.
(The PEM in general has been building up a strong Chinese collection, because of the historical connections with the China trade and Salem. They also bought and imported a Chinese house that had been in the same family for centuries and set it up with rooms set for different periods using as much of the same furniture as possible, which is fascinating and well-designed.)
Anyway, one of the things I finally figured out about myself and admitted in my thirties is that while I have a pretty good background in art history for someone who hasn't done that much formal study of it (thanks, Mom, for weekly trips to the Museum of Fine Arts when I was little...) what I really really like is material culture stuff.
Not furniture so much as things people use or hold or play with or do stuff with. I'm interested in how the things were made, and why the particular materials were chosen, and what those things mean in the context they were used in, basically.
I also really really love the geekery of understanding why particular objects were chosen for display, preservation and conservation issues, and so on - so a curator's tour like this is totally up my alley.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2019-01-25 02:31 pm (UTC)So, the exhibit I am going to is at the Peabody Essex Museum, which is a combination of other collections in Salem, MA (and not particularly associated with the witch trails, though their collections now include the Essex Institute and country court records, which does include the trial material).
These days, it is a very up and coming collection, and via one of my local history events mailing lists I'm on for work related reasons, found out about a curator's tour of the Empresses of China's Forbidden City exhibit, which has a number of pieces which have not been outside of China.
(The PEM in general has been building up a strong Chinese collection, because of the historical connections with the China trade and Salem. They also bought and imported a Chinese house that had been in the same family for centuries and set it up with rooms set for different periods using as much of the same furniture as possible, which is fascinating and well-designed.)
Anyway, one of the things I finally figured out about myself and admitted in my thirties is that while I have a pretty good background in art history for someone who hasn't done that much formal study of it (thanks, Mom, for weekly trips to the Museum of Fine Arts when I was little...) what I really really like is material culture stuff.
Not furniture so much as things people use or hold or play with or do stuff with. I'm interested in how the things were made, and why the particular materials were chosen, and what those things mean in the context they were used in, basically.
I also really really love the geekery of understanding why particular objects were chosen for display, preservation and conservation issues, and so on - so a curator's tour like this is totally up my alley.